Therese Lowell 'Terry' Smith, 93

Therese Lowell “Terry” Smith of Bigfork “left this world” on March 2, 2012, in Walla Walla, Wash. She was 93.

Born July 18, 1918, in Pendleton, Ore., to William E. and Helen Snyder Lowell, she was raised in Boise, Idaho; Spokane; Helena; Denver and Salt Lake City. Her father was a newspaperman and an Associated Press correspondent. Her mother was a homemaker.

Terry attended Whitman College, Colorado College and the University of Utah.

In 1941, she married Reed D. Smith of Salt Lake City.

During World War II, while Reed served in the Air Corps, Terry worked in Washington, D.C., for Bowen & Co., which manufactured proximity fuses. When the war ended, she and Reed lived in Aspen, Colo., where, with former members of the 10th Mountain Division, Reed helped build Aspen's first ski runs.

Returning to Salt Lake, Reed received his law degree from the University of Utah, while Terry graduated in 1948 with a degree in sociology.

They enjoyed hiking in the canyons with a fly rod and frying pan, and they loved to dance to the big bands of that era.

In 1953, Reed opened the Fireman's Fund office in Santa Ana, Calif. Like so many of their generation, they bought a small house on the GI Bill and set about living the American dream.

At age 50, Terry decided to go back to work and had to be very persistent to find a job. She ended up working for one of America's first sports agents. Her favorite clients were Bert Blyleven and Steve Yeager. She also worked for the Campfire Girls organization.

In 1990, she visited Bigfork and impulsively bought a small house on the Swan River. She moved in during January 1991. Thus began one of the happiest and most fulfilling times of her life. She remodeled the house (a project that she relished), reorganized the altar guild at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church and served on the vestry, made beautiful dream catchers and sold them through the Bigfork Art and Cultural Center (where she also volunteered), and started playing lots of bridge and hosting many fun parties.

While working at the Janoff Gallery, she reconnected with Betty Bartlett, who had come to the gallery to inquire about some framing. Betty had been her baby sitter in Helena in the 1920s.

Terry loved her only child, son, Steve, of Bigfork; Jesus; God; America; her mom and dad; her big brother Stephen W. Lowell of Kalispell (who died in 2002); her husband Reed (who died in 1982); her grampy, Stephen Arthur Lowell, of Pendleton; the Episcopal Church; beach combing; birds; ducks; turtles; the cats Mrs. Feely, Tiger, Beeper, and George; the dogs, Hitchhiker, Dinty, Ahab and Bodie; whodunits; crossword puzzles; jigsaw puzzles; crafts; decorating; entertaining and ice cream.

She was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Mayflower Society.

Terry lived a long and happy life and never let aches and disappointments affect her “positivity.” She was a happy camper with a great style and a marvelous sense of humor. She yet lives in the hearts of the many who loved and admired her.

A memorial service and life celebration is planned for the summer, with the date to be announced.